Clowns and Mirrors
by MyEccentricSelf
Summary: Bobby takes Jack to the carnival.


**I'm alive!**

**Hello again everyone. **

**I know that I haven't updated in a while, but here's something that I wrote a few days ago for my Creative Writing class.**

**It had to be about a carnival...and everything that I've written before for this class has been about death...**

**I finally wrote something a bit more light. **

**Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

Bobby couldn't understand why his mother was forcing him to take this kid to a carnival. At eight years old, the kid had already seen so much that the flashing lights and the great crowds of people were likely to scare the little boy. Plus, Bobby didn't like clowns and carnivals always had them. He just couldn't understand why a grown man would want to dress up and entertain children all the time. There had to be other motives behind that. He couldn't argue with his mother though. Once she had given him that look Bobby knew he was going to be taking Jack. There wasn't any getting out of it.

So here he was, driving his car two hours out of the way to take this kid to a carnival that neither of them seemed to want to go to. When Bobby had told Jack to get into the car, the eight year old had done it stoically and without word. Not that he ever really made much of a sound anyway, but Bobby felt as if he didn't want to go either. At least, that was what he was currently telling himself as he drove. The drive was a quiet one, Jack fiddled around with the radio until Bobby annoyingly snapped at the kid to leave it on one station, instantly the eighteen year old man had felt guilty when the kid looked at him, his big blue eyes wide with a slight fright; Bobby sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry kid."

The eight year old shrugged and looked out the passenger side window, watching the snowy landscape go by as they drove through Detroit. To top off the carnival trip that Bobby had already deemed a disaster, it was snowing.

Just another day in Detroit.

When they finally pulled into the parking lot for the carnival, Bobby found that most of the spots were full and he let out an angry puff of air.

"Damn it." He smacked a hand on the steering wheel of his car and let out a string of loud curses as they drove around. How could this place already be full? It was only, Bobby paused to check the clock, twelve…this thing had only opened an hour ago.

"You think Ma would know if we went somewhere else? You didn't want to see a carnival anyway." Bobby looked over at his little brother, the kid's eyes wide again and Bobby sighed, "You actually wanna see this shit?"

With a silent nod from the kid, Bobby gave out another angry sigh, "Seriously?"

He pulled the car around and went back to looking for a spot up front before giving up and taking one of the ones in the back. With the car parked and turned off, Bobby stepped out of the car, making sure that Jack was following him before he locked the car and began walking.

"Now that we're parked in fucking Russia…"Bobby paused to shake his head, "You better enjoy this kid. I hate carnivals, so don't fucking get lost."

The little boy nodded as he walked beside the eighteen year old, soaking in everything that his adopted older brother was saying. Jack hadn't planned on getting lost anyway, and Bobby knew that, the eight year old hated not being with someone he knew would protect him. They walked through the long rows between parked cars and came to a crowd that was waiting to enter the grounds. Without thinking, Bobby placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and pulled the little boy closer to them, his big brother instincts kicking in. If he did actually lose the kid here Evelyn would be pissed and he didn't want to see that disappointed look in her eyes that had been pointed his way so often.

"Twenty bucks." The guy at the ticket booth stared wearily at Bobby through the glass, his disinterested brown eyes boring into angrier brown eyes . The eighteen year old handed him the twenty dollar bill through the slot in the Plexiglas window that separated the public from him, the ticket man reached out a pale hand and grabbed the money before handing Bobby two admittance tickets and shooting them a disheartened, "Enjoy the carnival."

Bobby nodded, "Yeah, yeah. Thanks man." He directed Jack away from the ticket booth and to the line to enter, "Here Jackie, just show the ticket to one of the guys and keep it for your scrapbooking."

"It was one time! I was helping Evelyn." Jack protested Bobby's word.

The eighteen year old smiled slightly, "Okay fairy."

They looked around as they entered, seeing the different rides and food booths that were scattered around in an attempt to be organized. Bobby sighed for the third time that day; he could already feel his cholesterol rising from the scents that wafted toward him from the food booths. The wind blew and Bobby looked down, seeing Jack shove his hands into the pockets of the thin jacket that he had put on before leaving. How the kid wasn't completely freezing to death, Bobby had no idea.

"I'm not gonna give you my jacket today. You should've brought something warmer."

"I'm fine."

Bobby rolled his eyes, using his hand on Jack's shoulder to push him past the food booths and toward the rides where a group of giggling fourteen year old girls waited in line to ride the tea cups. He steered Jack toward a bigger ride, suddenly thankful that the eight year old was tall for his age as they walked to the Kamikaze ride, the two caged in things that swung like a pendulum and then made a complete circle around, sometimes stopping for a moment or two to have the rides upside down. Bobby reconsidered his original thought, more rides like this and he might just enjoy this thing.

"You ready for this Jackie?" Bobby looked down at his little brother and laughed slightly in the terrified look in the eight year old's eyes, "Don't worry, this'll be fun. I wouldn't make you ride it if you were gonna get hurt."

The little boy didn't seem convinced, and, when they came to the front of the line, he looked absolutely panic stricken.

"You boys ridin' together?" The carnie asked, looking at them with a disdainful look.

"Yeah." Bobby help back another annoyed sigh and got into the ride, smiling at Jack as the carnie pushed the ride's harnesses down and then closed to door to where they were sitting. They were in the front row and would get a great view of the carnival in this ride; the adrenaline was already running through Bobby's veins. This was going to change the whole day for the eighteen year old, it excused the fact that they had had to park all the way in Russia, it excused the fact that it was cold…it even excused the fact that his mother had forced him into this whole escapade.

The ride started, swinging slowly back and forth as it gained speed, going higher and higher as it continued. Bobby took his eyes off of the Plexiglas window to look at his little brother. Jack was gripping the harness that kept him in his seat, his knuckles white as he stared through the window, his blue eyes wide in fear. For a moment, Bobby felt bad before he realized that this was probably be good for him. Maybe Jack wouldn't be as scared as he normally was when at home. Hell, Bobby couldn't even walk into the same room as the kid sometimes without the eight year old freaking out a little bit. They stopped upside down for a moment and Bobby let out a bark-like laugh, this was definitely the most fun that he'd had in a while.

Finally, the ride stopped and the brothers got off the ride, Bobby grabbing Jack's shoulder again and steering him away from the crowds, "Alright, since you rode that with minimal complaining, I guess that I'll do something that you want to do."

There was silence between them for a moment before the eight year old spoke, pointing toward the makeshift building, "Can we go see the Hall of Mirrors?"

"Sure…I guess." Bobby bit his tongue, holding himself back from making a comment on the eight year old being a fairy.

Jack smiled triumphantly and unconsciously grabbed his older brother's hand, Bobby looked at him curiously for a moment as he was dragged toward the Hall of Mirrors, handing the carnie a couple of tickets as they entered. It was dark in the room that they were in with the exception of the dim lights that were shining on the mirrors. Jack maneuvered his way through the mirrors, occasionally looking at the distorted images that were himself and his older brother. Bobby had to admit that the kid was good at traversing the maze though, he definitely wouldn't have been able to make it as far as they had already. In fact, Bobby probably would have given up at the first fork that they had come to.

"You enjoying yourself Jackie?" Bobby asked, they had stopped for a moment at a dead end, Jack messing around as he looked at the distorted mirror. It made him look fat, and Bobby had to smile at the sight, the eight year old was all skin and bones, and no matter how much Evelyn had made them eat they were still perpetually skinny.

A soft laugh came from his little brother, Bobby found himself surprised to hear the sound. They continued through the maze, the eight year old Jack now leading Bobby a little ways ahead.

"When does this thing end?" Bobby broke the silence that had fallen between he and his little brother in that moment, looking away from the mirror that he had been looking at himself in.

There wasn't an answer, and it took the eighteen year old to realize that it wasn't just Jack being his normal quiet self. Jack tended to answer him.

"Jack?" Bobby walked through the row between the mirrors, seeing only himself as he rounded a corner and found a dead end, "Jack."

Bobby Mercer wasn't one that got worried easily, especially for his brothers. Angel and Jeremiah knew how to take care of themselves; however Jack didn't exactly know how to do that. He would cower behind Bobby or Evelyn whenever they were rough-housing…what if something happened to the eight year old when his big brother wasn't there?

"Jack, come on. This isn't fucking funny." His voice grew louder as he rounded back to the fork that he had taken the wrong way at, searching for his little brother and trying to navigate the maze of mirrors at the same time. He had been right earlier; Bobby was not good at this maze thing.

Evelyn would have found him immediately, her motherly instincts telling her where her adopted sons were even when they were trying to hide from her. Bobby didn't have that instinct…especially in a maze that he couldn't maneuver.

Bobby muttered to himself angrily as he made his way through the maze, eventually coming to the end of the maze. He was glad for that, one more minute in that mirror maze he was going to break something, and he didn't even want to think about how much these cheap carnies would charge for a couple of broken mirrors.

"Jack." Bobby left the hall and walked outside. Though it was very overcast, he still had to blink a few times to get his eyes to adjust to the overcast light that the sky was providing. It was going to snow soon and Bobby knew that Evelyn would want them home if it did start. He didn't even want to think of the look his mother would give him if he didn't bring Jack home before it started snowing.

"Come on Jack." Bobby sighed again, pulling down on the beanie that he had thrown over his head that morning as he looked around, "We should've just gotten the kid a cell phone."

He looked around, seeing people in the crowd and trying to find where his little brother could have run off to. Finally, he did spot him, standing fifteen feet away, staring up at a man that was wearing a bit too much white make up on his face, red lipstick covered not only his lips but what seemed, to Bobby, to be half of his face, and he was wearing a rainbow wig on his head. The eighteen year old stopped in his tracks, staring at the man as he interacted with Jack. For some reason, the eight year old boy wasn't frightened, but when he leaned down to Jack's height, Bobby almost choked.

Without thinking, he ran to his brother's rescue, grabbing the clown by the collar of his polka-dotted shirt and pulling him up to his regular height.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

He had always known that clowns were just a bunch of creeps, if he hadn't have ran to Jack's rescue, he might not have seen his little brother ever again. This guy could have run off with his brother. All Bobby saw was red as the clown said something about giving Jack a balloon animal, but the eighteen year old didn't quite hear him.

Before he could actually think it through, like so many other times that he had gotten himself and his brothers in trouble, Bobby reared his free hand back and caught the clown in the face, letting go of his shirt just as his fist made contact with his face. "Leave my brother alone you fucking creep."

"What the hell do you think you're doing man?" A few of the carnival workers ran up to help their fallen comrade as Bobby went to kick the man in the ribs, his anger at the thought of almost loosing Jack to this guy still red hot in his mind.

"You need to keep your creepy fucking clown away from kids." His voice rose as he stared at the clown, watching him stand up with the help of the other carnies.

He knew that going to this stupid carnival was going to be a waste of time. He told his mother that Jack didn't need to go. For once in his life, he might be able to tell his mother "I told you so" without her turning it against him. Bobby almost smiled at the prospect before he came back to reality. One of the carnies was yelling something at him, but Bobby was to pissed off at the whole thought of some clown trying to run off with his brother.

"You need to get the hell out of here." The carnie was pointing toward the exit, "Before we call the cops."

That perked Bobby's ears. He didn't need to get arrested again, let alone in front of his baby brother, so, with one last glare at the clown, he grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him away from the people, leaving the carnival and began searching for his car.

"Waste of time anyway."

* * *

"Did you at least ask the man what he was doing before you assaulted him Bobby?"

Two hours later, Bobby sat at the kitchen table, his mother talking to him about the clown as Jack relayed the exciting news to Angel and Jerry. Everyone but their mother seemed to find it extremely amusing. He just couldn't understand how she always had a way to turn everything against him. All Bobby had done was protect his little brother from some creepy clown.

"I didn't have to Ma. You don't understand-"

Evelyn sighed, "Did you ask Jack before you decided to assault the man?"

"Well…" Bobby paused for a moment, "I didn't have to Ma. You didn't see this guy."

She gave her oldest son one of her looks and he stopped speaking, "Jackie, can you come in here please?" Jack walked into the kitchen, looking up at his mother with questioning wide blue eyes, "Did Bobby ask what the man was doing?"

"No." Jack shook his head, his shaggy blonde hair flopping around his to pale face.

"What was the man doing?"

A smile broke out onto Jack's face making him actually look his age for once, "He was making a balloon animal."

"See Bobby." Evelyn shook her head and sighed, "As bright as you are Bobby, you just don't like to think."

Bobby rolled his eyes at his mother, "I know. I know."

"You know what this means right?" Evelyn turned back to the bowl in her hands as she continued cooking dinner. Jack watching for a moment before he stepped up onto the stool that Evelyn had out for her youngest son as he began helping her.

Bobby watched for a moment, "What?"

"That means you owe Jack a full day without you attacking someone."

Evelyn turned her head back to her oldest son and laughed slightly as Bobby let out an annoyed sigh, "Come on Ma. I already took one weekend away from work."

"No, this is your punishment for assaulting someone. Maybe, you'll learn how to think before you attack people. At least ask them what they're doing before you expect the worst."

Bobby let out a snort, "Fat chance."


End file.
